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Friday, 22 August 2014

Simon Celebrates its 20th Birthday

Today the cosmopolitans are very much familiar with the Smartphone, which have a sleek body containing a wide array of features ranging from
high-resolution camera, 1080p video support, and large data storing capacity. But has anyone wondered what was the 1st Smartphone being like?

Well, the world’s 1st smartphone was designed by IBM Technologies and American cellular company BellSouth and marketed under the name Simon. The
advent of 16th August 2014 marks the 20th birthday of the first ever smartphone being marketed all over the globe irrespective of the
geographical topologies.

Structural Details of Simon:

The forerunner of the smartphone, which was marketed under the name Simon was not much like today’s smartphone. In fact, it was not regarded as a
smartphone back then, reported by the curator Charlotte Connelly. It was manufactured and entered the multinational market on 16th August 1994,
and gained international acclaim within a very short span of time

It weighted more than 500gm (1.1lb) and it was about 20cm (9 inches) long and was powered by nickel-cadmium battery.

Apart from that, Simon has the capability to send fax and emails only when they can be synchronized with the desktop computer. Users could operate The
Simon with the stylus that was provided along with the handset. Apart from that, users could create notes, draw pictures and could even synchronize the
calendars as per as their needs.

Market Value of Simon back then:

IBM Technologies mastered in manufacturing a smartphone, which possess the capacity to optimize workload. However, a good technology comes with an
expensive price. It was coined in the open market for a price of $900(539 GBP) in the initial years of marketing, with a 2 years contract with BellSouth
(now AT&T) as network connectivity. An estimated 50,000 handsets were sold to the customers of 15 states of United States of America, and the primary
buyers were business tycoons and corporate magnates.

The battery lasted only for an hour, and it had no access to internet connectivity at that time. Owing to heavy weight and shorter battery lifespan and an
expensive cost, the demand of the smartphone Simon did not last long in the market and soon it became obsolete within 2 years of its launch. Nevertheless,
it was a groundbreaking innovation at that era, when wireless technology was just its juvenile stage.

The Science Museum in USA bought Simon over eBay with an anonymous sum of money. Owing a wireless technological device was way too out of league for ordinary citizens, so its demand was slowly diminished. That is when Nokia introduced
its Nokia 9000 Communicator to get the top-notch in the wireless device market.

The advancement of technology has ushered a technological revolution resulting in making the 1st ever invented smartphone to be long forgotten
in the pages of history. Apparently, Simon will be remembered as the first ever-designed smartphone.